A recent journey into the virtual world has sparked innovation in our mighty HEART family, proving once again how we can transcend through collaborative art. Creativity has been at an all time high as we have found new ideas to produce meaningful art and inspire our community.

VISUAL ARTS

Screen Shot 2020-04-02 at 10.59.58 AM.png

It’s business as usual for our “Daily Drawers”. A character with a big ol’ mouth and something falling from the sky were just a couple of the prompts that inspired these drawings. Using various techniques and mediums, we create visual art together and learn about new ways to expand our imaginations.

Screen Shot 2020-04-07 at 2.59.01 PM.png

Through a collaboration with Enough Pie, we created handmade cards for the residents of Joseph Floyd Manor in hopes of brightening the day of those who cannot be with their loved ones right now. HEART loves bringing joy to our community!

PERFORMING ARTS

We love the art of Storytelling and we want our members to experience the power of great performances!

We have begun making a music video for one of our original songs, “The Bad Makes The Good Great”. We asked ourselves, “How does the bad make the good great?”. We hope the final video will uplift and inspire our community. This song will also be featured in HEART’s highly anticipated premiere of Rare Bird. We love finding different ways to incorporate Rare Bird’s music and message into our online activities!

Check out this behind-the-scenes glimpse of us learning some new choreography for our “The Bad Makes The Good Great” music video.

MUSIC

We revisited two HEART favorites, “Hallelujah” and “Divisionary”, and worked to record a version of them over Zoom. The added challenge of recording music through online communication has forced us to listen attentively to each other and has expanded our knowledge of audio editing.

Not every attempt at rehearsing music on Zoom was perfect, but it was still fun to look back at some HEART “classics”.

MOVEMENT

Screen Shot 2020-04-02 at 3.12.54 PM.png

Regular afternoon yoga sessions led by Farrah have given us an opportunity to breathe, unwind, and set intentions. Our friend Ashton Johnson from Beyond BASIC and Cathryn Davis from Enough Pie have led dance classes, helping us to move our bodies and explore new choreography. Of course, we have also committed to rehearsing the “Git Up” dance with some of our friends, the Special Education majors from the College of Charleston. We have had so much fun rehearsing the dance that some HEARTists continue to perform in front of the camera and for their families in their homes.

We got to dance with Cathryn Davis to one of our favorite songs, “Glorious”.

TRAILBLAZING

HEART virtually visited a classic trailblazing destination, Hampton Park, learning its eclectic history and reminiscing about our many special outings there.

HEART Trailblazers also made their farthest trip yet, traveling to Paris, France for a tour of the Musee D’Orsay! We had a blast learning about impressionism and post-impressionism, as well as the many famous artists whose paintings are housed at the museum. We viewed stunning paintings and sculptures from the comfort of our homes. It has been exciting to explore both familiar and unfamiliar places through a new lens, and an important reminder that no matter where we go, it’s always better when we’re together.

Thank You to All of Our Guest Artist Mentors!

We are so grateful for the artists who have volunteered as Guest Mentors, and who are able to share their incredible talents and expertise with us each week. So far we’ve had visits from Cathryn Davis, Kelly Weekes, Ashton Johnson, and Donald “Noodle McDoodle” Whitley. HEART thrives off of this mentorship and the wide variety of engagement it brings. We are always seeking to host creative guests for our virtual activities. We love meeting new people and learning new things! Whether it’s instructional, interactive, observational, or just plain fun — HEART wants to connect with YOU!

HEART PROSPERS

We are still preparing for a successful premiere of HEART’s original musical Rare Bird at Charleston Music Hall this summer.

Announcing our new date and time:

Sunday, August 23rd at 3:00 PM.

If you haven’t purchased your tickets to this electric show yet, you can purchase them here.

Screen Shot 2020-04-07 at 2.59.42 PM.png

Screen Shot 2020-04-07 at 11.52.04 AM.png

Screen Shot 2020-04-07 at 10.40.57 AM.png

Screen Shot 2020-04-09 at 2.41.16 PM.png

Screen Shot 2020-04-09 at 4.56.22 PM.png

Screen Shot 2020-04-09 at 10.52.08 AM.png

Screen Shot 2020-04-09 at 5.21.56 PM.png

Screen Shot 2020-03-31 at 4.41.49 PM.png

VIRTUAL HEART

HEART is learning to adapt to the virtual world! In order to keep HEART active and engaged in serving adults with disabilities through the arts— we are having to learn how to translate our regular Tuesday and Thursday in-person program to an online environment.

We are learning everyday and making it better. The most exciting thing that we have discovered through this experience is that we have the opportunity to serve even more adults with disabilities through Virtual HEART. This new online platform eliminates barriers such as transportation and proximity. By taking HEART online, we can reach almost anyone, anywhere and ease isolation and inactivity in the lives of adults with disabilities.

Click Here to learn more about our Virtual HEART Program

Our 2020 Annual Report is out now!

Want to know how YOU can support HEART?

Pick up some new gear in the HEART Online Shop!

Our doors may be closed, but our online store is always open!

To ensure the continued safety of our staff, all orders will be processed each Wednesday.

Make HEART your Amazon Smile charity!

Support HEART through Amazon Smile

We’re all doing our shopping online these days - so why not support HEART while you shop? Make HEART your Amazon Smile charity of choice and Amazon will donate a portion of your total to US! (And you won’t even have to pay a penny more.)

Just remember to always shop through smile.amazon.com. It’s that easy!